Grease-cup.



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

S. S. WILLIAMSON.

GREASE CUP.

APPLICATION HLED NOV. 21. 1917 INVENTOR.

ruz mums urns ca, mawuma, wuumarom A c S. S. WILUAMSON.

GREASE CUP.

APPLICATION FiLED Nov.21. 1911.

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

, smarts m m SAMUEL s., WILLIAMSON,- or PHILADELrHiA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GREASE-CUP.

7 "0- all-w h'om it mag concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S.-VVILL1A 1\I- SON,- a citizen ofthe- UnitedStates, residing amt-Philadelphia, in-tlre county-of Philadelphia; and-State of Pennsylvania, have inventednew-and useful Improvements inGrease-Cups, of-whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relatesto new and useful improvementsin grease cups, andhas for its object to provideanexceedingly simple and efi'ective devicewhich will provide'for a graduated visule indicator to prominently showto the eye when the cup is feeding" grease to the --bearingandwhenwhichfeeding-ceases; also means for accurately regula ting the-feed'pressureupon the grease indicating the exact amount of such pressurealso providing ine-ans for utilizing the pressu-reof a given lengthspring to force a givenquantity of grease from a cup and th'enbyrea'djustingpthe mechanism, again utilizing the same 7 spring to. forcea further quantity: of grease" from the cup and so onl/Viththese-ends-in view, this invention consists in the-details ofconstruction and combination of elements. hereinafterset forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims In order that-those skilled in theart to.

which this invention appertains may understand how' to'mak'e and'use thesame, I w1ll descrlbe its construction.ln-detall referr ng by numeralsto theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in

Figure 1; is aside elevation of one form of a grease cup made inaccordance with my invention. a

Fig. 2, is a centralvertical sectional view thereof, the feed mechanismbeing set to put feed pressure upon the grease.

Specification ,of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 27, 1917.

Serial .No. 204,137;

'Fig. 3, is a' view similar to Fig. 2 showing the feed'mechanism intheposition itassumes at the endof'the feeding, operation.

Fig.- 4, is a planview oft'he: bottom of the cup showing the outletregulator.

Fig. 5,'is a plan view ofthe plunger.

Fig. 6, is a plan'view of' thecompressibleplunger ring.

Fig.7, is a side-elevation of a grease cup of a "slightly difierentconstruction from that-shown in, previous figures.

Fig,;8,' is a central 'vert'icalsection of F ig 7, the turret-beingturned at'right angles.

Fig. 9, is a plan view of Fig. 7.

Patented Oct. 15,1918;

Fig: 10, is a side'el'evation of the grad-h uated thimbl'e;

Fig; 11, is-a broken away vertical section of a slightly modified formfofimy invention:

as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Fig. 12;, is a vertical section of the. top of a cup ofa still further.slightly modified form of my invention. I I lncarrying out my inventionas embodied in F1gs;.1 to 6, 1 represents the top of'thegreasecup'whichis made" of glass in order that the-movementsof theplunger therein may beobserved,-thus determininggby the. eye'the amountof -grease within the cup with-inv a given time and. when all of said,grease has been expelled from the cup. This top is adapted to seatuponacompressible washer 2 superposed upon thebottom of the cup 3. saidbottom and top being adapted 0 lfefirmly clamped together by the pivotedThe bottom 3 is .here shown as made of. some non-metallic material suchas vulcanized fiber p orcelain'or the like and has. formed therein the,sockets'5 for the receptionof the pivoting ends 'ofthe bail.

Around the body of the top of the cup is formed aseries of'indentations6" so disposed that when the bail is forced over the incline ofthe topof th'e'cupand reaches therhigh est'p'ointethereon, each of'thevertical'sections ofth'e bail will, snap into one of the indentations,thus securelyretaining the bail inits upright or-locking position. Bythis arrangement no vibration orjar incident to the; operation of highspeed machinerywill cause the unlocking ofthe bail,"

yet when r it is desired to remove the-top of the cup from the basethereof, this may be readily accomplished by exerting suflicientpressure in the reverse direction upon the bail to cause its verticalmembers to spring out of the indentations and swing from out of contactwith the inclined surface, thus permitting the top to be removed fromthe base.

7 represents a threaded nipple by which the bottom of the cup is securedto the machine to be lubricated, this nipple passes through a suitablehole formed in the center of the bottom of the cup and carries apolygonal flange 8 for the application of a wrench to screw the nipplehome, and in order that the pivoted ends of the bail may be held intheir sockets and the nipple held in place in the bottom of the cup, Ithread a disk 9 upon the lower portion of the nipple as clearly shown inFig. 2. v

10 represents an outlet feed regulator which is pivoted at 11 to theflange 8 and extends across the feed outlet 12 terminating in a point 13adapted to look into the graduated notches 14 formed in the flange sothat as this regulator is moved across the outlet hole 12, it willincrease the area of the outlet and therefore regulate the amount ofgrease which can flow therethrough in a given time under a givenpressure.

Within the body of the top of the cup is fitted to slide a plunger 15,the construction of which will be hereinafter explained and this plungerhas rigidly secured thereto a feed screw 16 which latter is threadedinto the internally threaded stem 17 and this stem carries a flange 18between which and the upper wall of the top of the body is interposed aspring 19. The stem passing through the top has secured thereto a signalturret 20 which surrounds the dome 21 of the top and is adapted to riseand fall thereon as next set forth.

When the top of the cup is supplied with grease and the turret isrevolved so as to thread the stem upward from off the plunger screw 16,the spring 19 will be compressed whileat the same time the turret willbe elevated as clearly shown in Fig. 2 and as the grease is fed from thecup by the'force of the spring exerted upon the stem and throughthescrew 16 and the plunger, the turret will gradually move downwardupon the dome until the lower edge of said. turret rests upon the top ofthe cup as clearly shown in Fig. 3, which movement represents a certainamount of grease forced from the cup. T o reset the feed mechanism forforcing a further amount of grease from the cup it is only necessary'torepeat the operation of revolving the turret in the proper direction tofurther back the stem off the screw 16 thereby recompressing the feedspring and reelevating the turret as before described. This rising andfalling ofthe turret upon the dome clearly and readily indicates to theeye the feeding of the grease from the cup and by making the dome of adistinctive color such as blue, green or red it will serve as aprominent signal to determine when the cup is properly feeding and whenit has ceased feeding. This distinctive coloring may be given to thedome by inserting a tube 22 within the dome, the the outer surface ofsaid tube being colored to the desired shade, which coloring will showthrough theglass as will be readily understood.

The inclosing of the dome by the turret effectually seals the cup atthis point and as it is effectually sealed at the contact point betweenthe top and bottom thereof, an absolutely dust-proof and water-proof cupis produced. V

As one of the essential features of an effective grease cup is a plungerwhich will not permit the leakage ofgrease or even the oil contained inthe grease to leak back of the plunger, I have so constructed theplunger 15 as to preclude the possibility of such leakage even thoughthe barrel in which it travels may have a slight taper ,or may have anuneven surface which is likely to be the case in glass construction andthe construction of this plunger 15 is as follows:

The plunger proper consists of a shallow cylinder, the lower end ofwhich is closed and has an annular flange projecting therefrom which isapproximately the diameter of the bore of the'cup in which it is totravel and around the outer circumference of said cylinder is placed acompressible ring 23 preferably of cork or rubber and on this cylinderisalso placed a leather washer or shield 24, said washer being held inplace uponthe plunger by a ring 25 and all being secured in place by adisk 26 which is riveted to the plunger as indicated at 27 by thelowerendof the'feed screw 16 which passes through said plunger and disk.The result of this construction is that when the plunger is drawn intothe barrel, the leather shield will be cupped over the compressible ringcompressing the latter sufiicient, to maintain a constant pressure ofthe leather against the side walls of the bore and this compression issuflicient to compensate for any taper of the bore or unevenness of itssurface, while no grease or oil therefrom can be forced back of theplunger on account of this pressurefit of the plunger,

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 I have shown a slight modification of my inventionin which a micrometer feed regulator is included in the constructionthus obviating the necessity of using an outlet feed regulator upon thenipple. In this construction the turret-2O carries an extension 28, into.which is carried by the outer end of the stem and inclosing thatportion of the receptacle in the locality of the stem said turret beingrevolved in one direction to move the plunger inward and revolved in theother direction when the receptacle contains a lubricant to cause thestem to be moved outward for compressing the spring and moving the stemoutward to permit a movement of the plunger through a portion of itstotal travel,

by the pressure of said spring.

5. In a device of the character stated, a transparent receptacle havinga dome with a hole therethrough, a plunger within the receptacle, a feedscrew fixed thereto, a stem having threaded engagement with the feedscrew and passing through the opening in the dome, a flange formedwithin the inner end of said stem, a spring located between said flangeand the dome for normally forc ing the plunger outward through themedium of the stem, a feed screw and a turret carried by the stem andsurrounding the dome, said turret limiting the outward movement of theplunger at any one time, but adapted to be revolved to back the stem offthe feed screw to permita further movement of said plunger, therevolving of said turret also compressing the spring each time the stemis set for the movement of the plunger through a portion of itstotaltravel.

6. In a'device of the character stated, a transparent receptacle havinga dome with a hole therethrough, a plunger within the receptacle, afeed'screw fixed thereto, a stem having threaded engagement with thefeed screw and passing through the opening in the dome, a flange formedwithin the inner end of said stem, a spring located between said flangeand the dome for normally forcing the plunger outward through the mediumof the stem and feed screw, a turret carried by the stem and surroundingthe dome, said turret limiting the outward movement of the plunger atany one time, but adapted to be revolved to back the stem oli' the feedscrew to permit a further movement of said plunger, the revolving ofsaid turret also compressing thespring each time the stem isset for themovement of the plunger through a portion of its total travel and a tubehaving a distinctive coloring which will be completely hidden by theturret at the end of each movement of the plunger to indicate that thereis no pres sure upon the lubricant.

7. In a device of the character stated, a receptacle having a domeprovided with an opening, a plunger within the receptacle, 5: feed screwfixed thereto, said feed screw being of suificient length to projectthrough the opening in the receptacle, a stem having threaded engagementwith said feed screw 0 with one end projecting through the openingin'the receptacle,"a turret carriedjby the outer end of the stem andsurrounding the dome of the receptacle, said turret adapted to berevolved in one direction for moving: the plunger inward within thereceptacle and adapted to be revolv'ed in the opposite direction formoving the stem outward when the plunger is stationary, therebypartially uncovering the dome of thereceptacle and means engaging thestem and receptacle for moving theplunger outward through the medium ofthe stem and feed screw a dis tance equal to the length of the uncoveredportion of the receptacle dome, the projecting end of the feedscrewquite approximately aliningwitlr the outerrend of the stem and theturret fully covering the dome of the receptacle indicating thattheplunger has moved its complete stroke a'nd that I the receptacle must berefilled; V g

8. In a device of thecharacteristated, a

opening therein, a plunger within the receptacle, a feed screw fixed tosa'id plunger, a stem havingthread engagement with the feed screw, aspring interposed between a portion of the stem and receptacle forforcing said stem in one direction, aturret surrounding the dome andcarried by. the stem receptacle provided witha dome having an for:revolving the latter to compress the- I spring and move the stemoutward, said turret being adjustable with relation to the stem forchanging the tension of the spring a independent of the ordinarycompression and means for holding'the turret initsad justed position. 7I

9. In a device of the character stated, a base, a compresslble membersuperposed thereon, a, shankpassing through the coinpressible member andbase for atta'chingsaid base to an object and a flange formed withmember for attaching the'same to the'base.

10. In a device of the character stated, a base, a compressible membersuperposed thereon, a shank passing through the compressible member andbase for attaching-said 11. A greasecup comprising a receptacle, a baseto which it is attached and a shank,

passing through the base for mounting the grease cup on an object,said-shank having a flange, the outer edge of which terminates short ofthe outer edge of: the base and with which the receptacleis adapted toregister for posltloning the latter upon the base.

'105 said shank and overlying the compressible 12. A grease cupcomprising a base havto be detachably mounted on said base, the ing ahole therthrough, a shank passing open end of which registers with theflange through said hole, said shank carrying a to position saidreceptacle. 10 flange arranged to arrange one face of the In testimonywhereof I have hereunto af- 5 base, said flange being smaller than saidfixed my signature,

base, means for securing the shank and its flange t0 the "base and areceptacle adapted SAMUEL S. WILLIAMSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents,

, Washington, D. 0.

